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Chapter One
Willow Creek, Montana - July, 1885
That old shotgunhad hung above the mantel for so long dust fell from the barrel when Ben pulled it down and checked to see if it was loaded. Betsey’s heart slammed against her ribcage as she watched him. “What are you doing, Ben?” When he crossed the room without answering, his booted feet hitting the wooden floor at a fast pace, her pulse matched his rapid footsteps. “Ben Atwater, you stop right this minute and tell me what you’re doing!”
He spun on her, the look on his face one she’d never seen before. Her good-natured brother had been replaced by a man with vengeance in his eyes. “I’m going to go kill that little bastard, that’s what I’m doing.”
Her breath caught in her throat, her weak stomach once again souring and as she watched Ben stalk across the yard to his horse, she willed her lunch to stay in place as she chased after him. “Ben, wait.” The words,I’m going to kill him, ringing inside her head until she heard nothing else. When he climbed into the saddle, she screamed, “Ben, stop!”
“Stay here.”
“Ben, just listen to me!” Betsey ran across the yard after him, the tears she’d been trying to hold back blurring her vision. When he guided the horse away from the house and took off at a gallop, those tears started to fall. She wiped them away, turned and ran for the small barn behind the house. She saddled her old mare quickly, forcing more tears away and climbed into the saddle long minutes later. “Yah…let’s go Pansy, run!”
She hadn’t pushed the poor horse so fast in years and hated doing it now but she could barely make out Ben on the horizon and leaned down over Pansy’s neck and urged her faster. She knew where he was headed and if the pig-headed mule would have just listened, she could have told him he wasn’t there.
When she finally reached the small farm, Ben was already shouting up a storm. She raced the rest of the way to the house and barely let Pansy stop before she was off her back and running. “Ben!”
He turned on her, his face red, nostrils flared. A muscle ticked in his jaw and she’d never seen him so furious. “Go home,” he said before turning away.
“He’s not here, Ben.” Noah glanced her way before looking back at her brother. “You can check if you like.”
“He doesn’t need to.” Betsey grabbed Ben’s arm and looked at Noah and Keri Lloyd with regret in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at them both. “I tried to stop him.”
“What’s this all about?” Noah asked.
Ben looked down at her. “You going to tell them or should I?”
Her face flamed. She averted her gaze and tugged on his arm again. “Please, don’t do this,” she whispered. “I’m begging you, Ben.” She stared at the ground between them, the past three months playing in fast motion through her mind. The joy and heartache so consuming she could barely breathe around it and her queasy stomach rolled again. She looked up, Keri’s gaze locked on her face before lowering. Betsey realized her mistakewhen Keri’s eyes widened as she looked at the hand Betsey had laid against her stomach.
“Betsey?”
Keri’s soft voice caused that aching pain she felt to turn into humiliation. She averted her gaze and looked up at Ben, tugging on his arm again. “Please, let it go.”
“I will not.” He looked from Noah to Keri, then back again. “Where is he?”
Noah sighed. “I wish I knew. He took off a month ago. We’ve not seen or heard from him since.”
“Did he know, Betsey?”
Ben’s question was directed at her and the lump in her throat kept her from answering. She shook her head and flicked a quick glance to Keri again.
“Know what?” Noah asked, looking from the shotgun Ben held to her tear-streaked face. “What’s this all about?”
“This is about Aaron knocking up my baby sister and telling her he didn’t want to see her anymore—”
“That’s not the way it happened—“
“—And I’m not about to let him get away with treating her like a saloon whore.”
“Ben, stop it, please.”
“Is this true?” Noah asked.
“Oh, Betsey,” Keri’s soft-spoken words tore at her nerves.
Ben pulled his arm from her grasp. “He’ll make this right or so help me—“
“What can we do?” Keri asked.
